New ice skating rink opens at Funtrackers

Flour Bluff business installs seasonal attraction

CORPUS CHRISTI - Corpus Christi, known for year-around warm climate and beaches, now has an outdoor ice rink.

This idea will work, said the local man who built it, because people want something to do during the holidays.

The 90-foot by 70-foot Ice Rink by the Bay at Funtrackers is about half the length of a regulation hockey rink and is expected to remain open until at least Jan. 3, said Brian Stapp, the rink's general manager.

He said warm weather might keep the rink covered during certain days, as it was under a tarp much of its opening day Monday, but evening temperatures and a 200-ton chiller should keep it open most early mornings and evenings.

Stapp has traveled around the world operating temporary rinks for a Houston-based company, but didn't like being away from his family six to eight months of the year. Stapp, a Flour Bluff resident, said he wanted to do something for local youths to enjoy during the holidays.

"I live here and I wanted to do something positive in the bluff," said Stapp, owner of S&S Ice Action, which owns the rink. "(Funtrackers' owner) Mike McGrath thought it was a great idea and took a chance on me. Most skaters are kids and Funtrackers is a kids' spot."

The outdoor rink is next to the miniature golf and will be open to the public daily through January. The $140,000 initial investment cost Stapp his savings, but he hopes the risk pays off.

Melissia Wilson, the assistant athletic director and coach for South Texas Ice Skating Academy, expects that it will. She said she's excited to have first pick of ice time in the mornings.

The academy has been renting ice time at the American Bank Center since 2005 and she said she gets last pick of ice time. Frequent changes in schedules make it difficult for parents to commit to the program due to jobs, school and other student activities, she said.

Practice schedules are parents' biggest challenge, she added.

"This rink is going to be a big bonus for us," Wilson said. "We're a basic skills program, so a smaller rink won't affect us other than it will allow us to have more students. And since we have a basic hockey curriculum, it will mean more exposure for local hockey and figure skating."

Stapp said he has been an IceRays fans since the beginning and always has wanted to open a rink. The hockey team is one of the rink's biggest supporters, along with Pepsi-Cola, he added.

The team has provided the use of a Zamboni and other equipment to help get the rink going, Stapp said.

Brent Chesney, who owns an interest in the IceRays, said having a public ice rink is important to the town and the team.

The team isn't allowed to practice 21 days in November because of other events at American Bank Center, Chesney said. That forces the owners to rent ice out of town and pay the players a per-diem to practice out of town.

"Taking the guys out of town costs a fortune," Chesney said. "We might not be able to practice on the new rink as a team, but we can run three-on-three drills, which is better than nothing. And anything that gets kids to skate is a good thing."